New Jersey Supreme Court Rules Club Not Liable in Accident
Image Courtesy: Flickr - Gwaar
Last Thursday, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that a club in Burlington County that served alcohol to a guest was not liable for any civil claims arising out of an accident, because he was not visibly intoxicated at the time of leaving the venue.
In Aril 2002, Stephen Mikalic was a passenger in a car driven by John Kinnerman. The two had just left the Happy Hour Social and Athletic Club in Maple Shade, where they had been drinking. The car crashed into a van killing both men, as well as two other passengers in the car. Kinnerman's blood alcohol level at the time of the car accident was .018. Mikalic's widow filed a wrongful death claim against the club, stating that the club hosted a picnic where guests imbibed drinks from a beer truck at the venue. Her claim was that the staff at the club had a duty to monitor the level of intoxication of guests. The Court has now unanimously ruled that there was no negligence on the part of the club because of witnesses who testified that Kinnerman didn’t appear to be intoxicated as he left the venue.
The key phrase here is "appear to be visibly intoxicated"meaning that nobody at the club could testify that Kinnerman was stumbling over chairs, cussing at guests, or generally behaving drunk as he left the venue. But naturally, the plaintiff's argument is that staff members at the club who were in charge of food and drink should have been more observant, and made an effort to notice subtle changes in demeanor and appearance that signified that the person is intoxicated. What's not to say that the same argument won't be taken up in future when staff at a bar comes boldly forth to say they didn’t know the motorist, who had just left their establishment and killed four people in a crash, had been way above the legal drinking limit, because "Gee, he didn't look drunk at all!
New Jersey has dram shop laws that hold drinking establishments accountable for serving liquor to persons who appear intoxicated. Besides, there are also social host liability laws that hold persons serving liquor to other persons or minors in a non-commercial setting responsible in any accident claims. These laws can be tricky to apply to a real life scenario, because it isn’t always possible to detect signs of drunkenness in a patron who can hold his drinks very well. What may be enough to have a person lurching his way into an establishment thereby alerting staff, may be barely enough to give another a warm, feel happy buzz. In my years of practice as a Monmouth and Bergen County car accident lawyer, I have represented clients who have been injured by motorists served by bar staff who just couldn’t say no. If you have questions regarding a dram shop or social host liability claim, and need to speak to a Monmouth County personal injury lawyer, contact me at my office for a free consultation.
